Noah's New Airplane

These are two videos of Noah with one of his favorite toys-a Winnie the Pooh airplane that lights up and makes music. He can walk behind it right now, but is still not able to walk independently. He got it for Christmas from my mom and dad, and he's wearing an outfit from Ryan's mom and dad that he got for Christmas. The pants can "zip off" to become shorts-but they look a little more like short pants right now. So cute! We will be putting more Christmas pics and info on the blog soon. Noah, Ryan, and I have all had some sort of illness at some time during this past week (with Noah being the sickest with an ear infection and bronchitis). All is well now in our home-and we have had a nice quiet Saturday as a family. Ryan's brother, Ben, and his girlfriend, Kelsey, came and spent last night with us. Noah loves playing with them-so we were all glad they were able to come for a good visit.

Stay tuned for Christmas pictures later this week...

Love,

Julie

Hard Times for our family

The Monday morning after Thanksgiving my father called me to tell me that Sarah's father had died unexpectedly in the middle of the night. He had gone to the hospital with pancreatitis the day before. We found out later that a "complication" of hemorragic pancreatitis is sudden death.

His name was George Hayes, and was knows as "Papa Hayes" to Gracie, his 21 month old grand-daughter. He is survived by his wife, Theresa, and his son Marland (Betsy), and his daughter Sarah (Jason). Sarah is my sister-in-law and one of my very closest friends. This was so hard for me to hear. One of the first things I thought of was the painting Sarah had done recently that she planned on giving him for Christmas. George wouldn't get to see it-and I knew he would have loved it and been so proud of Sarah, too.He was creative, and always enjoyed helping Sarah and Jason with things around their house (he painted every room in their house with Sarah one time). He was a very strong Christian and involved in his church. He was a very kind man-a great encourager to his family and friends, and will be missed so much. I have included a link to his obituary on the right side of the page.

I was planning to go to Alabama the weekend after Thanksgiving to visit my grandfather (my mother's dad). I went home a day early (Thursday) to see Sarah. I didn't realize that my grandfather was so sick. He was put into hospice care that same Thursday.

Noah and I did have a good time with Sarah and Gracie, and were able to get his first pair of shoes with his Gran on Friday. It is hard to live life "normally" when you feel so sad at times. It's almost like I think I shouldn't do things that would make me happy because I should feel sad when someone passes away or is very sick. However, I and my family have hope because of our faith. We know that George is not lost, but in a very wonderful place called Heaven because of his faith in Jesus. I still hurt for Sarah, though, because I know she will always miss him.

On a different note, I had a wonderful visit with my grandfather (PaPa). He recognized me and Noah, and stayed awake for our whole visit-which was a pleasant surprise since it was several hours long. He was very weak, and wasn't even able to put his arms around me to give me a hug, but I hugged him. I was able to tell him that I loved him very much, and that he always made me feel special and loved. I read to him out of my Bible (Psalms 103, 23, 91, and John 14 and 15, as well as the Christmas story from Luke 2). Before we left, I was able to pray for him and Grandmom and ask God to bless them and to impress upon them how much we love him/them. It was a tender moment that I will always cherish. I love my grandparents so very much.

In an effort to be a little uplifting at the end of this post, I am including some pictures from the weekend. Noah is always "cheerful medicine" for all of us. He is such a blessing! God gives good gifts. It is so important to cherish your time with your family while they are with you and to make the most of the time you have with them. I thank God for my family-in Alabama and in Texas.

This is my precious PaPa. Actually, he used to always call me "Precious." That was my name as far as he was concerned-for as long as I can remember. He was a great man, and was loved by many people in the community (Northport, Alabama). He passed away around 11:45pm on Tuesday, December 11, 2007. Ryan and I were able to make it to his bedside at 11:15pm that night after 5 hours of traveling (delays from bad weather and then driving from Birmingham to Northport). Everyone said he was waiting on us to get there. He wasn't able to speak with his words, but I know he knew we were there, and that we loved him. I will be so happy to see him again one day. I created a link to his obituary (that my dad wrote) on the right side of the page.

Check out my Slide Show!

Thanksgiving in Lubbock

We went to Lubbock to spend Thanksgiving with Chuck and Lynn at their home. It was a full house with Matt, Tabitha, their daughter Abigail, Ben, Kasper (his beautiful lab), and the three of us. We had a really wonderful time though. It snowed! My first Thanksgiving with snow and Noah's first snow ever! Kasper was great with Noah. Noah seemed to really love him-which was great since he's not ever been around a dog before. Click on the video to see Noah "riding" Kasper. Very cute!

Also, I decided to demonstrate my devotion and love for my husband by watching his high school alma mater in a playoff game on Saturday night. I wore three layers and was covered by 3 thick blankets. It was super cold (and sleeting)-but a really good game. The Coronado Mustangs did a great job and won the game! It was the third time this school has ever made it this far in the playoffs. Matthew's team was the first, and Ryan's the second to make it to the semifinals. If you're from Texas (or Alabama for that matter)-you know what a big deal high school football is. We had a great time! It snowed all the way home and took us about 8 hours to finally arrive in Frisco. Noah was a super traveler. (What a blessing!)

Sorry this post is so late. Happy Thanksgiving!

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

The Bratcher Family

My parents and Ryan's brothers and parents at Noah's dedication

Michael and Noah on Noah's Dedication at Hillcrest

Matthew, Ryan, Michael, Chuck, and Lynn at Hillcrest after Noah's dedication to the Lord

Grand Daddy Bratcher and Noah in Lubbock

Ryan, Nana Lynn, Matthew, and Tabitha for Ryan's 28th Birthday at TXLand and Cattle

Ben and Noah

Julie and Tabitha with Noah and Abigail

Matthew, Tabitha, and baby Abby

I wanted everyone to see Ryan's family, too. He is in a family with 4 brothers-Jody, Michael, Matthew, (then Ryan), and Ben. Jody's in Oklahoma (Go Sooners!), Micheal's in Dallas with several very successful restaurants. We have the link to them posted on the side of our blog (Fuse and Scene). Matthew and Tabitha live in Dallas with their daughter, Abigail, and Ben lives in Lubbock with Nana Lynn and Grand Daddy Bratcher while he finishes school at Texas Tech.

Ryan works at CHRobinson, Worldwide in Plano. He's been there for over 5 years now and is doing very well. We are very proud of him!

Nana Lynn is a teacher in Lubbock, Texas, and Grand Daddy Bratcher is the owner of National Scouting Report for West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.